Evolve Saddle and Bit Fitting

08/02/2025

29/01/2025

👀 buckles matter!
Does your bridle have buckles which cover the TMJ? Are they stacked on top of each other?

It is extremely important that your bridle fits as well as your saddle!
Just look at all the nerves that exist in the horses head! All those pressure points!

It's important the buckles don't stack, don't cover the TMJ.

Does your horse rub its head during or after the bridle is on?
It's trying to tell you it has pins and needles and so the bridle is pressing on any of these nerves and is trying to rub feeling back into the area.

Discomfort around the head can lead to
- head staking
- head tossing
- tilting head
- avoiding flexing
- avoiding relaxing
- tension in jaw, neck, poll, shoulder
- poking nose
- high head carriage
- over bent head carriage
Avoiding work!

Get your bit and bridle checked! It's very important to your horses comfort and relaxation!
Let's stop anxiety and promote welfare!

24/01/2025

Spring is around the corner and it’s time to order your custom saddle

I am a certified saddle fitter for English and Western. Book your appointment for a saddle fitting and we will look at options for a saddle to properly fit horse and rider.

* I specialize in the hard to fit horse - wide short backed equines or high withered.

* Can look at a customized saddles or the used market

* I can also help with bridle and bit fitting

Contact me to discuss

05/01/2025

03/01/2025

Tell this every time to most of my clients about western saddles

This is what frustrates me about the saddle industry. Both of these saddles are "full quarter horse bars" with 7" gullets (as correctly measured between the concho's and listed as such by the manufacturers). But clearly the difference in flare and bar angle is huge! Saddle on the right is a Martin and the saddle on the left is a Charmayne James by Cactus. Why can't we buy saddles by bar angle????? **edited to say - I didn’t take this pic - found it on FB about 4 years ago from someone who forwarded it. The original mastermind is Jenny Barnes - I found out from her posting here that she took the picture. Hats off to Jenny for trying to educate folks to begin with ❤️ so 𝙉𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙!

03/01/2025

🥴 Is your horse crooked? 🥴

❓ Do you find yourself consistently falling off to one side when riding?
❓Does your horse lean heavily on one rein?
❓Does your horse have difficultly turning in one direction (it’s difficult to bend the neck and body to that direction)?
❓Can your horse move its rib cage equally in both directions?
❓Does your horse become crooked when asked to leg yield?
❓Does your horse drift to one side when backing?

We’ve previously discussed fascial lines and how asymmetrical movement can manifest on the diagonal side of the horse.

Why is this important? Balance is critical for for performance horses to maintain soundness. If your horse is crooked, he/she is trying to tell you something.

What can we learn from this picture? We can see that this horse has a bulged wither on the LEFT and a hollow wither on the RIGHT.

By considering biomechanics, we can learn that this horse likely lands hard on the LEFT front limb. This horse likely bulges its hip to the RIGHT (remember the diagonal). His rib cage is likely hollow on the RIGHT side. This horse likely appears lame on the LEFT front. All musculature on the RIGHT side of his body is tight. He will likely give to the RIGHT rein with ease. This horse’s rider likely falls off to the RIGHT side consistently.

So now what? This picture has given us a tremendous amount of information. In combination with our physical examination, movement examination, and patient history, we can begin treating this horse with a goal to eliminate the LEFT front lameness and get this horse moving soundly again. Are you sitting down? This horse’s problem is actually on the RIGHT side…..and his LEFT front leg is not the problem.

We will use a whole horse approach to achieve soundness in this horse. A combination of chiropractic, axial skeletal injections, stretching, and shockwave will get him back on track.

Here’s the take home message. Symmetry is critical. Pay attention to asymmetrical muscling, movement, and posture. Remember, it’s not always the leg!

📸 The background of this picture was intentionally removed to make his asymmetry more obvious.

18/12/2024

“I don’t need a fancy, professionally fitted saddle, I only hack out and mostly in walk!”

I’m going to quote Dr Ian Bidstrup from a recent webinar he conducted on saddle fit from a specialist spinal vet’s perspective – and for those interested there will be a more in depth look at saddle design next year which will be fascinating.

THE SLOW DEATH

This is the terminology he uses to describe slow rides. Now slow walk is important, super important, when we’re building posture and balance for sure, I’m a big proponent. However, when we consider the pressure under saddles and its effect on the skin and blood flow then we have to think more traditionally and look at the role of the saddle in spreading that pressure.

If you sit on your horse in halt, it’s likely that the pressure under the saddle is already approaching levels that prevent blood flow. I’d have to go and look at a ton of research to try and get down to it but we know it’s not always that easy to get our hand under the front or anywhere else under the saddle, your weight and that of the saddle has to go somewhere!

What happens when we move at a pace that’s faster than walk?

Each part of the back under the saddle is at least partly unloaded at one stage of the stride pattern. In rising trot we shift our weight forward and back in the saddle, from our seatbones to the stirrup bars. In canter the whole saddle rocks a little, and the pressure under the saddle fluctuates and transfers from front to back and back again with each stride. Even sitting trot allows for some relief of pressure under the saddle in all areas within each stride.

Racehorses have pretty grim saddles with teeny areas underneath them, the reason that greater damage isn’t done is because whenever they walk any distance they’re generally going to the gallops where they will get immediate relief from the unrelenting pressure.

Walk does not offer any real alleviation of pressure. A lack of blood flow to the muscle will stop them functioning fully, and may be causing damage to the skin and to the fascia. Fascia are layers of connective tissue that wrap around muscles (you’ve seen it if you’ve prepared or eaten most meats) that are critical to the skeletal and biomechanical health of the horse and obviously the skin is pretty important too!

The long riding experts Be Professional. Look Cool. have also looked at this VERY closely in their work, the effect of saddle pressure on the horse’s back and, for riding long distances daily, back to back, for long periods of time where "mistakes" get hugely magnified. He recommends intervals for dismounting and loosening the girth, and for taking the saddle off. This should be done more than once every day, and that’s WITH doing faster work. Here’s a post of theirs on the subject https://www.facebook.com/beprofessionallookcool/posts/pfbid03369vorLPo4PeMYF49a7V6kp1HYm6qH7ixnywNMqApYvHrPzernmJBD13rCpQpuDyl

Remember, they’re not just poorly designed to carry us and a saddle, the way they function in the wild means that riding them will always compromise them immensely unless we’re super careful about how we load them with weight and how we prepare them to carry that weight.

Give your horse a break – if you’re not doing faster work then your need for a well fitting saddle is just as high, perhaps higher, as those working at supposedly higher levels. Take the fitting of your saddle deadly seriously.

27/11/2024

"It looks WAY more expensive than it is!"
- Every Arena Monoflap Jump rider 💕

What you get:
👑 Streamlined monoflap design
🎯 Close contact leg feel
📸 Instagram-ready style
🔧 Adjustable fit system
💫 Premium European leather
🎁 FREE matching pad at launch.

Why wait? Your perfect saddle is here (and it won't break the bank!)

https://arenasaddles.pulse.ly/wm7yswodjy

27/11/2024

Here is a few options of Wintec Saddles that will work for our hard fitting wide with short back horses. Trust me I know ! Contact me about ordering a Wintec that would work for you and your Equine

27/11/2024

Had the opportunity to travel down to New York State to see Allegany Saddlery in person and meet with hardworking Staci the owner who is working an average 14 hours a day ensuring that her clients have the best experience in their custom saddles

08/11/2024

Wednesday November 13th, I will be in the Tofield area I have some afternoon openings if there are any clients wanting a saddle fitting. On November 18th I fly back to New State with the Allegany saddle tree forms, so last chance to get your horse fitted for you custom ordered saddle before the New Year

08/11/2024

I very excited to announce that I am now a representative for Wintec/ Arena and Bates Saddles

They have a new saddle which is the Wintec Endurance Wide. I currently ride in the Endurance saddle and LOVE it ! Secure, comfortable and light !

Contact me if you are interested in ordering your next saddle.

I will definitely be bringing in a few of these Wide models to have available at saddle fittings as they are great for dressage, training, trail riding.

Message me if you have any questions

17/10/2024

It’s been a busy few weeks fitting some amazing horses and looking at customized options from Allegany Saddlery for both horse and rider

* Do you have a hard to fit horse and tired of trying multiple saddles that haven’t worked?
* Is your horse showing behaviour issues pinning ears, tail swishing, performance changes?
* Is your horse short backed, mutton withered, high withered?
*Are you, as a rider sore after riding in your current saddle, pain in knees, saddle shifting?

Feel free to contact me for a future saddle fitting for your future Western or English saddle. I will help to find you a saddle within your budget whether that’s a custom saddle to a used saddle.

Have a look at Allegany Saddlery website that have some the most affordable custom saddles on the market with quality build.

https://www.alleganysaddlery.com/

10/10/2024

I am receiving the tree forms for Allegany Saddlery to custom build your dream western saddle. I am a certified saddle fitter and love these saddles especially for the hard to fit horses, the short backed, mutton withered breeds. (I have Haflingers)

The process is- I come out for a fitting with a demo saddle as well as the tree forms from Steele Tree Company from Tennessee, they have been making saddle trees since the civil war era. Once we decide the best tree for you and your horse then we choose options for saddle build. Your tree is then custom built and then shipped to saddle builders in New York State where your saddle is completed.

I can travel anywhere in Alberta for fittings. Contact me with any questions https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078004598295&mibextid=LQQJ4d

https://www.alleganysaddlery.com/

03/10/2024

https://www.alleganysaddlery.com/ This is the time of year to order your customized western saddle from Allegany Saddlery.

I will have the tree forms arriving next week and can do a fitting to custom to your horse. Each saddle is customized to horse and rider with a narrow twist for female riders and lightweight on a custom Steele tree. Message me for more info

https://www.alleganysaddlery.com/

29/08/2024

SOLD

This is a very lightly used treeless 18 inch Dressage Trail saddle. Includes leather and Sensation Pad. Beautiful condition. Can ship at buyers expense or meet in Edmonton Area. I’m a certified saddle fitter so I can help you the Edmonton area to see if this saddle works for you